Hey guys! I literally was so tired when I wrote this so forgive me if it's trash. Enjoy! ><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Y/N's POV
"How do y'all feel about going with us to The Orchard?" Peggy asked with a smile.
Izze and I shared a look, both of us ridiculously excited. We were about to spend the day with THE SCHUYLER SISTERS! "Sure!" I smiled, turning back to the sisters.
"Great!" Peggy cheered, grabbing our hands and pulling us off down the road.
"Peggy, slow down!" Angelica said, running slightly to catch up with us. Peggy stopped, sticking out her bottom lip in a small pout.
"So, where are y'all from?" Eliza asked.
"We live downtown, over that way," I chirped, pointing in the direction of Alex's house. "You should come visit someday!"
Izze shuffled her feet uncomfortably. She's a hardcore Lams shipper, so Hamliza's kind of odd to her. I gave her a slight look, reminding her that we needed to try our best not to change history. Lams would happen on its own.
"I wish we could," Peggy frowned, "but our father won't let us go downtown."
"Well I'm going," Eliza smirked, giving Peggy a slight look. The younger girl's eyes lit up with mischief and she gained a slight skip in her step.
Eventually, they came around a small orchard full of apple trees. They were scattered around everywhere, decorating the orchard in all shades of red.
"Here we are!" Angelica beamed, leading them inside.
"It's beautiful," I breathed, looking around in wonder. The sun was falling beautifully onto the trees, highlighting the grass through the leaves.
"Let's play Manhunt!" Eliza suggested, running off in the opposite direction, closely followed by Peggy. Izze and I looked at Angelica in confusion.
"What's Manhunt?" Izze asked.
"It's simple! Everybody scatters around and one person goes around looking for them," Angelica laughed as if it were the most obvious thing on earth.
"So Hide and Seek?"
"Umm... sure," she said, shoving us in the direction her sisters went. "Now go hide!" We each ran off in different ways, while Angelica began to count.
Pretty soon I found myself in a small circle of trees, all surrounding one larger one in the middle. Its wood was chipping and it looked older than the others. Then I noticed some strange markings in the middle of the tree.
'Jeremy Cooper' was carved into the bark in ridged handwriting. My eyes widened as Jacob came into my mind. Jacob Cooper, Izze and I's best friend from across the street. Could it be possible that this carving was left by his ancestor?
I grazed my fingers gently against the damaged wood, committing the carving to memory.
"Found you!" Angelica yelled from behind me, smiling triumphantly. I turned around with a pout, joining her in looking for the others.
We found Peggy first when she dashed through the trees, trying to find a new hiding spot. Izze was next, she was hiding behind a tree and drawing in the dirt. We found Eliza last. She had somehow managed to climb one of the trees and was sitting in its branches comfortably, snacking on an apple.
After the game, we all laid down around one of the trees, staring up at the clouds. "Hey, Liza?" I asked, "Does anybody even own this orchard?"
"Yes, the Coopers have run this place for years. They leave it open for anybody to visit though, so long as no one damages anything."
I felt myself getting excited, wanting to tell Jacob what I'd figured out. Then I frowned, realizing that I would never be able to do that.
~~~~babytimeskip~~~~
By the time we got back home, it was dark out. Alex stood waiting for us in the kitchen with a worried look on his face. "Why were y'all out so late?" he asked us, crossing his arms grumpily.
"We met some friends and we went to The Orchard with them," Izze explained, rolling her eyes amusedly. Alex nodded before running a hand through his hair nervously.
"I have some bad news. I'll be leaving in two days' time to return to fighting in the war," he sighed.
"Two days?!" I exclaimed. Izze's mouth fell open in shock.
"I'm sorry! They just barely told us today! I promise that I'll write to you both every day, but I have to go."
"You'd better!" Izze huffed.
None of us spoke much for the rest of the night. We were all too nervous about what was to come. We knew that he would be fine but we still couldn't help but worry.
Later when Izze and I were lying in bed I got an idea. "Tomorrow we need to go back to Mulligans," I told her.
"What?"
"We need to go buy a uniform. I'm going to join the Revolution," I explained. (I'm sorry, I know it's cliche) She frowned at me concernedly, not seeming convinced.
"How are you going to pay for the uniform? And don't you think Alex will recognize you?" she questioned.
"I might just have to steal the money," I frowned, "However he won't recognize me. I just need to cut my hair and bind my chest. I'll try my best to avoid him anyways."
"Y/N, I just got you back and now you're going to leave again?" she whimpered, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I could go with you!"
"No Izze. I need you to stay here or people will start becoming suspicious. We need to take advantage of the fact that we look identical, okay? You can visit the Schuyler sisters as both of us, so long as you visit more than once. I'm also going to need you to send me any letters he writes me so that I can respond to them," I sighed, wiping away her tears.
She nodded sadly before hugging me. "Why do you have to go?" she whispered.
"Obviously, I know that he's going to be fine— I just have this feeling. I need to go with him and make sure that he'll be okay. I'll come back, okay? I'll be fine," I told her, hugging her tightly.
We didn't sleep very well that night, both of our minds too anxious about tomorrow.
><><><><><><><><><><><><> 4/18/2020
Guys, look what I came across while I was out hiking today:
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I literally love whoever did this. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed!
